Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter with five Grammy Award nominations. Kid Rock is known for his eccentric personality and his music that fuses rap with heavy metal, blues rock, southern rock, funk and country music.

Kid Rock released several studio albums that mostly went unnoticed before his 1998 record Devil Without a Cause, released with Atlantic Records, sold 11 million albums behind the hits, "Bawitdaba","Cowboy," and "Only God Knows Why". In 2000, he released The History of Rock which was a compilation of remixed and remastered versions of songs from his previous albums as well as the single, "American Bad Ass". In 2001, he released the follow up, Cocky. After a slow start, his country-flavored hit "Picture" with Sheryl Crow resurrected the album and it went gold as a single and pushed the album's sales to more than 5 million. It was followed by 2003's self-titled release, which failed to chart a major hit. In 2006 he released Live Trucker , a live album. In 2007 Kid Rock released Rock N Roll Jesus, which produced a hit in "All Summer Long". It was his first worldwide smash hit, charting #1 in eight countries across Europe and Australia. Rock N Roll Jesus would go on to sell 5 million albums worldwide including being certified triple platinum in the US.

He has sold 22.4 million records in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan, while the RIAA has him certified at 22 million. His singles have charted on every major chart genre. He is backed by The Twisted Brown Trucker Band, who he formed in 1994, in Sterling Heights, MI. He also appears in the music video Toes by the Zac Brown Band as the Jet Ski driver wearing a Detroit Tigers hat that shows his Metro-Detroit roots.

United Press International is a leading provider of news, photos and information to millions of readers around the globe via UPI.com and its licensing services.

With a history of reliable reporting dating back to 1907, today’s UPI is a credible source for the most important stories of the day, continually updated - a one-stop site for U.S. and world news, as well as entertainment, trends, science, health and stunning photography. UPI also provides insightful reports on key topics of geopolitical importance, including energy and security.

A Spanish version of the site reaches millions of readers in Latin America and beyond.

UPI was founded in 1907 by E.W. Scripps as the United Press (UP). It became known as UPI when after a merger with the International News Service in 1958, which was founded in 1909 by William Randolph Hearst. Today, UPI is owned by News World Communications.